


Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

by MissDrarryDawn



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A Toad, Auror AU, Auror Draco, Auror Fic, Auror Harry, Auror Partners, Auror Ron, Awkward Boners, Blood Magic, Clumsy Harry, Dark Magic, Getting Together, Happy Ending tho, Healer Hermione, Kissing, M/M, Magical Theory, Mountains, Mutual Pining, Natural Disasters, OFC - Freeform, OMC - Freeform, Original Female Character - Freeform, Original Male Character - Freeform, Pining, Rune Magic, Stranded, UST, auror blaise, cursebreaker pansy, depictions of injuries, harvesting magic, hermit witch, injuries, naive Harry, slight angst, trust me the toad is important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:21:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22807003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissDrarryDawn/pseuds/MissDrarryDawn
Summary: Harry and Draco set up a stakeout in a nameless village in the countryside in hopes to arrest Archibald Stonewill, a prat who fancies himself above Mother Nature.Good news, they do catch him.Bad news, Harry sort of disappears in the process.//Completed//Word count: 11.9k
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Drarry - Relationship
Comments: 15
Kudos: 138





	Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

**Author's Note:**

> holy shit it took me way longer than it should've to finish this, but i'm so glad i stuck to my guns and completed it. hope yall enjoy it!

"Archibald Stonewill." 

Draco read the manila file Robards dropped off at his office a moment ago. _'A new case.'_ He said. As Draco read he found it a tad difficult to believe, that one man would be capable of such destruction, but then again, his partner was Harry Potter so he ought not to be too surprised by anything anymore.

Just as he'd thought that, Potter returned to their office with coffee. He placed Draco's cup next to him and sat on Draco's desk like an utter neanderthal. If Draco didn't love him, he'd be pretty damn annoyed right now. As it were though....

"New case?" Potter inquired, tilting his head to catch a glimpse of the inside of the file.

Draco threw the file flat on his desk and grabbed his coffee:

"Some prat called _Archibald Stonewill_ has designed curses that induce natural disasters, like floods, fires, hurricanes etc. He sets them loose on small wizarding villages in remote areas like thick woods or mountains and then pillages anything salvageable from the wreckage."

Potter leaned back on his arm and looked up at the ceiling, and Draco did his damndest best not to stare at the exposed line of Potter's neck too obviously.

"First off, _you_ retain no right to mock someone else's name, _Draco Lucius Abraxas Malfoy._ Second off, that's pretty genius actually. You can't pin him with a crime because it's a natural disaster. How'd he get on the record then?"

Draco rolled his eyes and took a large gulp of his coffee:

"When a rescue team was sent to a village to pull out any survivors their diagnostic spells turned up purple marks of magical interference with the nature around. From then each disaster was traced for suspicious activity and they managed to pin his magical signature. Passed it off onto us from that point."

Potter nodded and hummed to himself for a moment.

"So is there any particular pattern to track?" He murmured, swallowing half his cup of coffee in a single gulp.

"He seems to be moving in a linear fashion to the nearest port, I can only imagine to escape via a ship." Draco shrugged. 

Potter hopped off Draco's desk:

"I assume we set up a stakeout then." 

~

The village they arrived to by Portkey was small and quaint. There was no grand welcome, people mostly didn't seem to really care that Harry Potter appeared in their home for no goddamn reason. It was quite remote, settled at the base of a mountain.

It was nice not to be glared at in public for once though, Draco found.

They rented a room in an inn, a room with a _single bed._

And _oh,_ Draco was doomed.

Absolutely _doomed_.

His anxiety didn't go unnoticed by Potter, the dumb observant oaf, who thought it would be _helpful_ to act all sweet and concerned.

"Malfoy are you okay?" He murmured when they were settled in.

 _"Fine."_ Draco grit. He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think of the safest way to handle bed-sharing.

He could think of _none._

Before he could do anything else though, Potter was in front of him in two strides and grabbing his wrist to pull it away from his head.

"You're doing the thing again. Stop." He shook his head with a grin. Draco blinked at him:

"What _thing?"_

Potter shrugged and idly traced a circle into the sensitive skin of the blonde's wrist with his thumb:

"Messing up your hair, you do that when you're nervous." 

Something hot coiled in Draco's stomach. Potter..noticed..

"I like your hair the way it is, you shouldn't mess it up." Potter cocked him a half grin and stepped away to pull out the various potions they had brought with them, in case of emergencies, as well as other necessities from their trunk.

And Draco, was growing roots on the spot. These occasional _compliments_ Potter would casually drop got to him the _most_ , because he could _not_ infer what they meant. Draco wasn't dumb enough to go ahead and lay his feelings bare unless he was _absolutely certain_ they'd be accepted. It was simply impractical, since he had to work with this guy every day and making things awry between them wasn't really an option.

The fucking compliments made it really difficult to decide whether Potter wanted the same thing as Draco or not since usually Potter was just his normal, friendly, criminally cute self, hardly ever displaying signs of interest. 

Neither commented on the one bed so far, but Potter seemed completely unbothered as he went around setting up wards and privacy charms. 

Feeling quite useless, Draco pulled out the case file and sat on the wretched bed to read it again, just to appear busy. He wasn't sure how much time passed while he was half reading half dozing half secretly staring at Potter as he fretted over everything, but it must've been a few hours at least.

"Night's falling. I'll take the first shift, walk around the village and monitor whether anyone is coming in or going out. You get some rest." Potter snapped Draco out of his reverie, taking post by the window that watched the road in and out of the village. 

"What? No, that's dumb. You can't go taking on a natural disaster wielding lunatic on your own." Draco scoffed at the suggestion. The thought of something happening to Potter while he slept was too terrifying to indulge.

Potter half turned to him and slanted him a bone melting smile:

"Awe, are you _worried_ about me Draco? I'll be fine, I'll wake you up if anything happens, okay?"

Draco wasn't sure which part of that sentence to swoon at first, so instead he just rolled his eyes and nodded. He lay down and turned away from Potter and sighed into the pillow, wondering for the enth time how he managed to get his heart in such a mess.

~

Harry stared out over the road, but his thoughts wandered. With a sigh he shuffled on the spot and tried to focus on something else besides Draco sleeping not a few feet away. It felt insidious, how deep under Harry's skin Draco was. Then again, Harry supposed Draco had always gotten under his skin, in one way or another. But always there. 

Always fucking there.

At first it had been irritation. More than that really, they'd _loathed_ each other. Harry winced when he thought of any of it. After that it had been attraction. Just lust, and shameful wanking to mental images of Draco beneath him. When he got to know Draco better, he couldn't be irritated with him anymore, and that made Harry mad, so since all of that frustrated anger had nowhere to go, it fueled a lust. A way to relieve it. But lust is usually a passing thing. It comes and goes, wanes and fades over some time. What Harry felt each time he looked at Draco was not passing however, which led Harry down a dangerous path of introspection that had ended with Harry discovering that the initial lust paired with spending more and more time with Draco had bred a deeper tenderness. 

How Harry had managed to tumble from the very rocky, fragile start of their work relationship to falling in fucking love with Draco, he would never know.

But here he was. 

Unable to pay attention to his duties because Draco's hair fucking glowed in the moonlight of the night.

Right. He spun on his heel and grabbed his coat, resolving to patrol around the village for a few hours. Harry hoped it would help clear his mind.

He left their room and quietly slipped down the stairs, exiting the inn. The cold air helped crisp his attention up to level and he made his way down the single street branching through the small nameless place.

It was surrounded by nature and fields, as well as a tall mountain out back Harry couldn't be bothered to learn the name of looming above it.

Pretty remote, and the perfect target. Harry idly wondered at how powerful a wizard Stonewill had to be to develop curses able to spin up natural disasters out of thin air, but he found he didn't really care when dozens of lives were on the line, were already lost. Dozens of people already lost everything they had. Harry was determined to take his guy down. 

He'd walked out of the villlage lost in thought and found himself before a patch of woods that lead to probably the only road passing anywhere close to here. Draco and he had passed through there since their Portkey only reached as far as the road. If Harry remembered correctly there was a lake in there the village used as a water supply and magically sustained. Harry had inspected everything closely, trying to work out every kind of disaster that could sweep up the surroundings. 

If someone was attempting to fake a natural disaster as something spontaneous, Harry reckoned they'd hide in woods or somewhere where the nature and vegetation were dense and sent a catastrophe down through it, to make sure they'd covered all bases. 

It wouldn't hurt to do a quick scan of the woods. It wasn't that large and he'd be out in an hour max to continue the patrol. 

Harry trudged in, lighting a Lumos along the way, scanning the forest around him. He made his way through to the lake having found nothing suspicious, which was a relief. He approached the edge and stared down into the water. 

Why'd he have to go and fall in love with Draco?

Under any different circumstances he'd have asked Draco out no problem, and if he got rejected he'd find a way to move on, but they were partners. At work. It was a bit more complicated, would make things awkward between them. Switching partners wasn't simple either, it was this whole process Harry didn't fancy going through, and overall, it simply wasn't worth it. Especially when Draco showed very little interest in being friends and hanging out in general, let alone anything _more._

Harry swayed back and forth on his heels for a moment, spacing out, not really noticing at first when he leaned too far forwards and overbalanced. 

Only when he was toppling right into the lake did his mind catch up and he scrambled to close his eyes and grab his wand, before he plummeted straight into the cold water with a great splash.

Murky, tangy water rushed up his nose and mouth and his glasses floated off of his face. Slowly, Harry opened his eyes just as he'd hit the bottom, the sand whirring up around him, going into them. He tried to make out the blurry outline of his glasses, but his lungs were burning and swelling and Harry pushed off from the bottom and swam up to the surface. When he broke it he started coughing and sputtering. 

Harry wiped his eyes from the burning sand and took a deep breath. His wand and glasses were still down there, he hadn't managed to cast a bubble head charm on himself in time when he fell, and his wand slipped from his grasp. 

With a wince at the chill settling in his clothes and bones, he dived back down, hunting for his belongings. When he managed to make out a dark blur of a line he grabbed for it, relieved to feel the pulsing of his wand instead of some random stick. He cast _Liquet_ at his eyes and his sight cleared up considerably. He was able to grab his glasses and swim back up.

He scrambled out of the lake, still coughing out some water and sopping wet. He was such an _idiot_ , toppling into the bloody lake like that. He was a fully trained Auror for heaven's sake, he shouldn't be that clumsy or careless.

It was so ironic it was almost amusing, and Harry managed a chuckle at his own expense. His drenched clothes and skin suffered from the cold air and breeze blowing through, causing Harry to shiver violently. He pulled himself up and stood, eager to get back to the inn as soon as possible and warm up.

~

He tried to be as quiet and possible to not wake Draco up when he entered but the squelch and slush of wet clothes and boots on wood floors was enough to break Draco's light sleep. He sat up groggily and rubbed his eyes. 

"Err--sorry, didn't mean to wake you--" Harry mumbled, feeling put out Draco would see him like this. 

Draco reached for his wand and brightened the doused lights, staring at Harry for a few quiet seconds with this unreadable look on his face. Then he sighed in a horribly put-uponfashion and pinched the bridge of his nose:

"Potter. _Why_ are you drenched?" 

Harry bit his lip and chuckled, rubbing his neck:

"I-err--was patrolling the forest and uhm--sort of--fell into the lake..."

Draco's eyes flashed for a moment:

 _"You fell into the--_ Bloody hell Potter, how did you manage to fall into the lake?" 

Harry sighed deeply. _I was thinking about you and got carried away_ wasn't an acceptable answer.

"I tripped." He answered simply. 

Draco stood up, shaking his head and grumbling all the while, and went to his trunk, dug around in it for a moment before he pulled out a large, mint green sweater and brown trousers. He tossed them at Harry with a roll of his eyes:

"Dry off and change into that, you buffoon. I can't believe you're the guy who saved the Wizarding World."

Harry stared at him then burst into laughter. It was such a typical, falsely scathing Draco comment it made him smile. He shrugged:

"I can't either. To be honest, Hermione did most of the work." 

Draco said nothing.

Harry coughed and shuddered from the cold, and finally smarted. He started stripping, peeling his wet clothes off himself and throwing them in a pile on the floor. He couldn't care less that Draco was watching him, he just wanted to be out of his ruined garments.

~

Draco thought nothing could surprise him anymore, but realized how sorely wrong he'd been when Potter started stripping out of his clothes _right there in front of him._

His mouth went completely dry as Harry shucked off his shirt and tossed it onto the floor. Draco couldn't tear his eyes away from the broad shoulders and toned stomach. It felt as if a fire was lit in his bones as he drank in all of the honey hued skin. Potter seemed entirely unaware that Draco was slowly dying with the sudden, overwhelming desire to jump him and just kept fucking going. He bent at the waist and undid his belt and shucked off his pants down his legs, leaving him in only boxers.

Draco swallowed a very loud, desperate whimper and grabbed a blanket to toss over his obscene erection. His eyes strayed down Potter's lean body, lingering on the outline of his cock through his wet boxers. He clenched his fists in the blanket to keep himself in check.

"Merlin I can _feel_ the water in me too." Potter sighed and shook his head, water droplets flying out of his ridiculously beautiful hair.

Draco swallowed as his cock swelled further.

"It's so _deep_ in me it's like it's in my very bones." Potter kept talking, completely oblivious to the innuendos that had Draco going bandy.

"It just kept _pounding_ into me from all sides when I fell in, you know? Through all my _holes."_

Draco's blood was boiling hot, he closed his eyes, let his head thump back against the headboard. He prayed Potter would shut the fuck up before Draco's poor cock popped.

"It pressed down my throat, and I had to _swallow_ it all down, tasted _salty_ too."

This time Draco did whimper. He could have burst into desperate tears too, every part of him craving Potter frantically.

"Are you okay?" Potter turned to him as he pulled up Draco's trousers.

 _"Please_ shut up." Draco begged in a raspy voice.

"Right. Sorry." Potter flushed and shucked on the sweater.

Draco swallowed a gasp at the sight.

Since Draco was a bit taller than Potter, his sweater was big on Potter. The sleeves ended up falling past his hands, and the collar drooped low.

He looked like...like he was Draco's and it _hurt._ So soft and comfortable. Draco's chest felt too tight for his swelling heart, such a deep fondness and tenderness filling him up rapidly.

"Thanks. This sweater is wonderful." Potter grinned and went to sit next to Draco on the bed. Draco, who was still riding a lust induced high and sporting a, by now, painful boner.

_Fuck._

"I think we should talk to people tomorrow, but I don't think we should tell them why we're here, in case Stonewill gets word of it when he arrives." Potter hummed idly as he got comfortable. "I doubt anyone will have any idea about the mysterious natural disasters this far out, but it's worth a shot to ask around. I'll let you do the talking, you're better at that than me. Sound good?" 

Draco took a deep breath, and prayed his voice wouldn't give out on him:

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. I'll take post next, you go sleep." 

Potter nodded, his face scrunching up as he went into another coughing fit, before taking a breath and turning away, shuffling. Draco was biting his lip so forcefully he was scared he might draw blood because of the aches through him. He waited a painful fifteen minutes, until he was _certain_ Potter was well asleep.

He slid a hand into his pants, no class or patience left in him. 

He gripped his cock and stroked once, twice, then he was coming like a freight train over his knuckles, his other hand pressed tightly over his mouth so not a single escapes him, head full of filthy wanton throws of the man right fucking next to him giving him a good pounding.

Potter would be the death of him, _Merlin._

Draco shook his head, cast a cleaning charm over himself, and stood up, taking position by the window, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand.

~

Draco shook Potter awake:

"Potter, _Potter!_ Wake up, he's just traveled into the village."

It took him a second to smarten up, but as soon as he did he was scrambling up and grabbing his wand and glasses, summoning his boots while Draco did the same.

"We'll have to skip talking to the locals." Potter mumbled as he laced his boots up. In his rush he ran out still only wearing Draco's clothes.

"Yes, how unfortunate my vastly superior people skills won't shine through. C'mon, let's arrest the bastard, _then_ we can chat up all the cute local boys." Draco drawled, a hint of amusement to his voice.

Potter chuckled and tossed Draco a thumbs up:

"Ahh, I fear there's only one cute boy I want to chat up, but unfortunately he isn't from here." 

As they made their way out, Draco's brows furrowed:

"Where's he from then?"

Potter turned and held Draco's gaze for a moment, then he winked and answered simply:

"Wiltshire."

Draco stumbled in his stride and nearly fell onto flat onto his nose, but Potter pulled him forwards with a laugh, and Draco regained his balance. The blonde tried _really_ hard not to dwell on what Potter said, and tried even harder not to hope. 

He failed at both, naturally, but luckily for him, he had something else to focus on.

They pelted through the village and into the field out back, leading to the mountain. As they left the line of houses, they found Stonewill crouched, muttering something to the earth. 

Draco stopped to catch his breath and form a plan, but Potter being Potter sprung forwards and tackled Stonewill to the ground, catching him by surprise.

They rolled around the field landing punches and attempting to grab at their wands, when Draco heard two spells muttered simultaneously. 

Potter cast a Body-Bind.

Stonewill cast _Ventus Turbinis_ , whatever the bloody hell that was.

A strong wind picked up through the field then, roiling up leaves and branches, picking up speed, and coiling around Potter, who hadn't noticed anything amiss yet. He stood up off of Stonewill, who was struggling against the Body-Bind. 

The wind whipped faster and faster, blowing in stronger currents, starting to whirl and roll around Potter and... _pick him up!_

"Uh--" Potter mumbled as his feet were lifted from the ground. He was starting to rise up higher as the tiny tornado picked up momentum. Helplessly, Potter stretched his arm out towards Draco, his yelling lost to the howling.

Draco ran forwards and grabbed Potter's outstretched arm and pulled, attempting to pull him out of the twister attempting to carry him away.

Neither had noticed Stonewill still had his wand tightly clutched in his hand, despite being bound.

 _"Evalesco!"_ He yelled and the tornado swallowed up the burst of magic, rising up and whipping, threatening to pick Draco up too.

Draco wasn't letting go of Potter though.

As the mini tornado started to tear down the field, spinning away, it wretched Potter from Draco's grip. 

"No!" Draco cried and looked around frantically. All the fuss had strewn a couple of branches about and Draco grabbed one, hastily Transfiguring it into a makeshift broom. 

He mounted it and kicked off, tearing after the rising tornado. It was lifting off the ground, spinning with Potter at the center. Draco could occasionally catch a glimpse of an arm or a leg and he leaned forwards on his little Transfigured broom, trying to pick up as much speed as possible. He couldn't lose Potter now.

But as the height, velocity and speed increased, his rather subpar Transfiguration gave out, and the broom fizzled out, molding back into a mere branch. Draco plummeted through the air, and managed a quick cushioning charm that broke his fall. He hit the ground and rolled through the field for a bit, his charm saving him from injury.

By the time he'd scrambled up however, the mini tornado was _gone,_

And it had taken Potter with it.

~

"Where did you send him?!" Draco snarled at Stonewill, still lying bound on the ground. He'd kicked his wand out of his grip, and had the bastard by the collar.

"I don't know." Stonewill attempted a shrug.

Draco pressed his own wand to the arsehole's throat:

"Where the _fuck_ did you send him?" He repeated his question, the threat in his voice rising, much like his fury.

"I don't fucking know. It's a bloody tornado, it could have carried him anywhere." Stonewill spat, jerking his head away from the tip of Draco's wand pressed into his skin.

"What's the range of the spell?" Draco hissed, a multitude of dark hexes at the tip of his tongue. Stonewill remained silent, and Draco was having _none_ of it.

He shot a Stinging hex straight over the bastard's throat, flinging him down to the ground as he let go of his collar. Stonewill cried out and hissed in pain and coughed as his skin was simmered.

Draco paced.

"What's the _range?"_ He leered, glaring down at the piece of shit.

"Usually 350 meters.." Stonewill bit.

"But?" Draco urged him to continue, a ball of panic tight in his stomach.

Stonewill said nothing. He just rolled his eyes and grinned a twisted grin up at Draco. 

The blonde kicked him in the ribs, rolling him onto his side with the force of it:

"Bastard." He snarled, running a hand through his hair.

Where the hell was Potter now?

Forcing himself to still, Draco swallowed the rapidly rising terror in him and summoned his tortoise Patronus:

"Go to the Ministry of Magic. I need Weasley, Granger, Parkinson and Zabini here. They can track my locator. I got Stonewill, but Potter is... _gone_. This is urgent." 

It dipped his head in a nod and swirled away in a cloud of silvery mist to pass on the message.

Draco looked to the general direction the tornado had risen up in and bit his lip.

_Please be okay wherever you are, Harry._

_~_

Draco had worn a hole in the ground with his pacing by the time Weasley, Granger and Pansy arrived and bustled into the field a couple of restless hours later. 

"Malfoy what the fuck do you mean Harry's gone?!" Weasley immediately wheezed, out of breath and incredibly dishevelled.

Draco turned on his heel and threw his arms out, gesturing wildly:

"I mean bloody _gone._ The fucker summoned a tornado that picked Potter up and carried him fuck knows where!"

Saying it outloud made the notion sink in properly as a physical weight in his stomach and Draco worked hard to keep his composure.

"Holy _shit."_ Weasley cursed and turned to Granger, who was rapidly paling.

"I'm just a Healer, don't look at me." She helplessly muttered. _"Jesus.."_

"What direction did the tornado spin off to?" Pansy arched an eyebrow and pulled her wand. She was an excellent Cursebreaker, and Draco couldn't be gladder to have her for a best friend.

"There. I don't know if it changed course or what happened though." Draco pointed the vague direction he'd followed the tornado in before his transfiguration failed.

"What do you mean you don't _know?"_ Blaise was properly apprehending Stonewill as he spoke.

"I _mean_ I transfigured a makeshift broom to follow but the spell failed before I could reach Potter and I fell, so I didn't exactly see everything." Draco hastily explained, waving the question off. 

Pansy breezed past him and flicked her wand up through the air, closing her eyes as she worked. 

When she opened them again there was a grim frown etched into her features.

"The curse shouldn't have carried Potter far." She stopped and lowered her wand. _"But_ , the outpouring of magic into the air, from Potter, Draco, Stonewill as well as the general magic of the area from the village itself electrified the air and fueled the curse on farther, so he could really be anywhere now."

Draco's heart dropped.

"Can't we use his locator?" Granger suggested.

Pansy shook her head, squashing that hope:

"Wherever he is he's gone out of range." 

"But...those spells have a range of 250 meters squared.." Blaise muttered, gaping.

Pansy pressed her lips in a thin line:

"Either he's gone out of range by distance or height. The higher you go, the air gets thinner and the magic has less particles to bond to and stick, eventually fading altogether. It's why it's so much more difficult to cast up in mountains."

"So it's possible the tornado carried him up onto the mountain then?" Draco jerked his chin in the direction of the mountain.

"Yes." Pansy confirmed. "However...finding someone stranded in a mountain is..." She bit her lip and cast a hesitant glance to Blaise, Weasley and Granger.

They said nothing but their grim expressions spoke for themselves.

"We'll find Potter. We _have_ to." Draco grit. They _had_ to. He wouldn't leave Potter for dead, he _couldn't_. He wouldn't accept any alternatives.

"Yeah." Weasley just nodded mutely.

~

Harry groaned as he crashed to the hard ground where the blasted wind spat him out. He pushed himself up by his arms, and hissed when pain shot up through his right arm. As he blinked the soot out of his eyes, he found Draco's sweater torn down the length of his arm, and stained with blood as a long, deep gash sliced through Harry's skin and muscle. 

_Great._

He felt a clawing in his throat and realized his ears were buzzing. The pressure inside the fucking tornado was immense, pushing into his ears, tossing him around and around like a ragdoll until he was sick. It was over now, thank fuck. Harry coughed to rid himself of the scratch in his throat and coughed up some dust.

He sat up and patted himself down for his wand, first and foremost. He was horrified to realize it wasn't on him. He remembers casting a Body Bind on Stonewill and then...did he drop it? Lose it when the tornado picked him up? _Fuck, fuck, fuck--_

Sighing deeply and forcing himself to calm down, Harry stood and stretched as much as his injured arm allowed him. His vision was off kilter and blurry, no matter how much he squinted and rubbed at his eyes, and only then did Harry realize it wasn't because there was something in his eyes, but because his glasses were gone. Had _that_ fallen of his face when he was picked up too? 

Bloody hell he was well and properly screwed.

He looked around, squinting at the out of focus terrain, trying to make out something distinctive that would help him figure out where he was. There weren't many trees around, the land was mostly jagged and rocky. The air was colder and clearer too. Off to one side of him, earth and stone rose higher up still, and off another, there was a steep decline.

He had to be on that mountain that loomed above the village. On a cliff, it seemed. Alright, that was fine. All he needed to do was make it down the mountain. Simple, right? Well, that was bound to take a day or two at least, and Harry was well aware he wasn't making it anywhere blind as a bat as he were.

He had never really cast wandless much before, never trained himself too hard about it, but he figured now he had no other option. He took a deep breath and pressed his fingers to his closed eyes.

 _"Liquet."_ He murmured, focusing on directing his magic through his veins.

He felt it flicker through him faintly, and when he opened his eyes, his vision had marginally cleared. He could actually _see_ things now, not just assume their shapes through the blur. 

Harry sighed and looked over the edge of the cliff. The decline was steep, very unsafe but it would have to do. He could sort of make out the faintest outlines of houses at the bottom if he squinted. 

Right.

A harsh wind blew through him, making him shiver and cough. His nose felt sort of stuffy, but Harry had no time to ponder it. He needed supplies. Water and food and shelter.

~

"Let's look through the field first, see if we can find something." Granger suggested, already pulling her wand to cast a scan over the grass.

Pansy joined her, weaving a web of search spells to lay over the ground.

"We'll go into the village to ask for help." Weasley and Blaise turned to head back.

Draco took a deep breath and joined Pansy and Granger in scouring the space. The two women seemed to be having little luck, but as soon as Draco cast, something glowed and pulled at him. He followed and was horrified to find Potter's wand and glasses lying in a heap in the grass. His glasses were cracked, laying atop his wand.

He levitated them over to Pansy and Granger:

"Can you use this somehow?" He asked Pansy, who cast a protective charm over her hands before taking them. 

"Perhaps.." She muttered, brows furrowed in thought.

~

As the hours bled away, Harry grew more and more frustrated. He'd found some food, consisting of very suspicious berries Harry was 80% sure were poisonous, however with starvation being the alternative, he was willing to take the chance. No luck on water though. He couldn't find a spring or a river or a pond anywhere, no matter how much he climbed and hopped around like a monkey.

His magic was acting up as well, fizzing out when he attempted to cast a three point navigation charm. Or any charm. There would be a faint, translucent manifestation of what the spell was supposed to do, which would then melt away. When he'd climb higher it would get worse, so he opted to stick to his little cliff and everything below. 

He was exhausted from the constant hike and trudge up and down the jagged slopes, and night was quickly falling. The gash on his arm hurt like hell too, and Harry worried for the fact he had nothing to clean the wound with, at least a little bit. Getting an infection would not be beneficial in this scenario. He was having trouble breathing, realizing with dawning horror his little tumble in the lake earned him a cold. Finally, having catalogued all the disasters he was in, he gave up looking for water and instead turned to trying to find shelter for the night. He had not a clue what kind of wildlife roamed this mountain and had no desire to find out either. Harry slid down a slope and scanned the terrain for a cave of some sorts he could duck into.

An opening a little ways away caught his eye and Harry made for it, ducking inside as the sun's final rays faded away. Huddling in the cramped space, Harry felt the temperature dropping. His head was woozy with fatigue, and he maneuvered himself to lay down, putting as little weight on his injured arm as possible. A sneeze overcame him followed by a cough and then a groan of frustration. Of all the times to get sick--

Harry sighed. He bit his lip and propped himself up on an elbow, praying his magic wouldn't give out on him now. Nights in mountains tended to get real bloody cold, and he'd need _something_ to warm himself up with. He closed his eyes and imagined warmth, then whispered the incantation and was relieved a small flame sparked up and lit up the tiny space he'd crawled into. He'd be okay. Harry lay back down and thought about Draco, how he was now. He buried his nose in the soft material of Draco's sweater and inhaled, taking comfort in the familiar, soothing scent, before lilting off to sleep.

~

Draco didn't sleep a wink, and was more than a little groused when morning came. Pansy had been casting all sorts of complicated spells and charms on Potter's wand and glasses, assuring Draco it was all necessary when he bugged her about it. The thought of Potter out all alone, possibly injured with no wand and glasses only made him panic even more than before, and sleep had simply not been an option.

He left the inn in an exceptionally bad mood and nearly slammed headfirst into Pansy who was entering the inn. They both flinched back and blinked at each other for a moment before Pansy waved her arm:

"We've got something." 

Well. That _significantly_ improved Draco's mood. His face lightened and he hummed for her to continue:

"His wand and glasses are obviously _drenched_ with his magic, and it was strong enough to pull a faint signal. He's up in the mountain." She jerked her chin towards it. "I don't know exactly _where_ , but he's up there." 

Draco nodded, an icy fist unclenching from around his heart. They had a lead now, they would find him. _They had to._

~

When Harry woke up, he was sore and cramped. He whined in pain and dragged himself out of the little hole, muscles tense. He stretched with a wince and felt marginally more mobile. Harry checked his arm, the gash had stopped bleeding, and little scabs lined the edges. He grimaced and shook his head at it, turned away.

He had to start heading down the mountain today. He had some food, he figured he'd be fine without water for another day, and by then he hoped he'd make it down and find Draco. The thought made him smile. Draco would give him a lecture for sure, grumble loud and long but hug him all the same. Harry hadn't expected Draco Malfoy to be affectionate but he surprised Harry with little adorable ministrations all the time. Though it was weird, Draco kept away from most of other people, with the exception of his mother of course, only seemed so mellow and touchy feely around Harry. Harry liked to believe he made Draco comfortable enough to act that way. 

A snap and rustle jostled Harry out of his daydreaming. He turned about, reaching for his not-there-wand, eyes fixated on the rocks and boulders around him. _Please don't be something dangerous..._

Was all he had time to think, before a fucking Graphorn stepped out from behind a jagged boulder, growling and glaring at Harry.

_Great. Fuck. So much for not being dangerous..._

Harry took a slow step backwards, assuming he'd crossed into this Graphorn's territory, which is why it now meant to kill him by the looks of it.

And he could not defend himself.

It took a step closer and Harry took another backward, fear twisting his gut. He glanced behind himself to find a ledge coming up in the terrain. A drop. 

Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Of _course_ he was. 

The Graphorn showed no signs of losing interest, instead only advancing, its entire posture exuding menace.

Okay, he had to think of something and _fast._

Looking around himself there wasn't much in way of a weapon, though it wouldn't help him much in this case anyways. 

All further thought was cut off when the Graphorn lunged forwards. Harry scrambled to the side, trying to dodge, but he was just a tad bit late as he felt the Graphorn's four thumbed heavy foot swipe at his shin, the claws ripping through both trousers and skin. The wound burned in a hiss of pain for a moment, before Harry was stumbling to his feet to hide.

At this point it was as good as anything. 

As the Graphorn reoriented itself and spun around, Harry was diving back into the hole he'd holed up in for the night, pressing himself as far away from the entrance as possible.

He could hear the creature stomping and roaring closer, clawing at the space, too big to fit. 

Harry took a single breath, his heart thundering in his ears. He was safe, at least for a bit. This was not a favorable position for him, because if he was on the Graphorn's territory, it would not leave until he was good and dead. He swallowed and thought about what to do next, while the Graphorn beat at the ground, growing more and more agitated.

He needed to distract it long enough to slide out and run down the slope, that was the only feasible solution he could think of.

But _how?_

Shifting in the tight space, Harry patted his pockets to see if he had anything he could use. Nope. All there were were those berries he'd scavenged yesterday.

Well..unless...

He fished out a handful of the fruits and sighed. There goes his only food supply.

He jerked his arm out, rolling them out there far and forceful. 

The Graphorn jerked then lunged for the berries, stomping on some of them and sniffing the others. It picked one up with it's tentacles appendages and pushed it into its mouth, tasting it. It seemed pleased, since it continued to eat. 

Harry swallowed a lump and shuffled forwards, being as quiet as possible, popping his legs out first and dragging the rest of him out slowly. He sat up and stilled, ready to dive back in on the slightest cue. The Graphorn didn't seem to notice him. Okay, that was good.

He shoved a hand into his pocket and picked up the remaining of the berries, slowly standing and walking in a wide berth towards the slant. He chucked the berries in the Graphorn's direction and booked it down the slope, not waiting for it to realize he'd ran. After a few minutes of heedless running, he was sure it wasn't hunting him, and stopped for breath. 

His shin was still bleeding. The damn monster got him good.

Now he had two open wounds to worry about instead of just one. 

How ridiculous.

~

"No one wants to help us." Blaise shook his head sadly when he and Weasley returned from their search for help.

"They say the mountain is cursed and full of dark magic, as well as breeding grounds for a herd of Graphorns." Weasley explained, looking pale and worried.

"Dark magic? How--?" Granger shook her head. "It's just superstition, it's got to be."

Blaise held up a hand to get her attention:

"The villagers say that there was a witch who'd practiced dark magic and everyone feared her. So they exiled her to the mountain, to get her as far away from the rest of the community as possible."

"Yeah, they say she continued performing various rituals up there. Does it even today." Weasley finished. "Apparently those that go up there return with some pretty gnarly injuries and scars to show for it. She's a loony one, though I forgot her name.."

Granger pressed his lips in a thin line, a deep worry creasing her face:

"So you're telling me that Harry is wandless up there, surrounded by dark magic, Graphorns and an insane hermit witch?" 

Weasley grimaced, and Blaise just bit his lip. 

Draco felt as if he'd been turned inside out. They had no idea about this when they came here. It wasn't listed in the description of the damn place, though he supposed you don't exactly flaunt such grim parts of your history. He would know.

"We'll just have to find him before anything else finds him then." He stated simply.

"We can't just go climbing a mountain all willy nilly, Malfoy." Granger reprimanded. "We have to prepare, and we can't all go." 

Pansy rolled her eyes:

"If we don't all go our chances of finding him soon drop from low to essentially non existent. There's only five of us, and the mountain isn't exactly tiny. It'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Granger stood her ground though:

"Someone has to report back to the Ministry, and set up supplies. Harry being Harry has surely gotten himself a minimum of two injuries by now, and everything has to be ready for when you bring him down, especially if the damage is severe. I'm a Healer, I'll stay. You four go look for him."

"Actually, it will be the three of us." Weasley spoke up. 

Draco's brow furrowed. What in the raving hell was he on about? 

"Malfoy, you stay." The ginger ran a hand through his hair.

Draco scoffed:

"I most certainly _will not."_

Weasley sighed, as if he knew Draco would fight him, and gestured with his hands in a note of finality:

"You'll just be a liability up there." 

Just as Draco was about to hex him for saying that, Weasley continued:

"Usually, you're the most level headed of us. However, this is Harry we're talking about here." 

"So _what?"_ Draco hissed acidly, glaring at Weasley. Potter was his damn partner, if anyone should be looking for him, it should be Draco.

"You lose your head and heart about Harry, Malfoy. We all know it. We've all seen it." Weasley deadpanned. His words were cleancut but his tone was gentle.

And Draco had no idea what to say to that incredibly accurate observation.

"We don't know what condition we'll find him in, if at all. If he's run into Graphorns he could even be..." Weasley looked away, turning white at the unspoken omen.

"It's Potter, he'll be fine. He's probably tamed one by now, the loony bastard." Blaise nudged Weasley, a blatant attempt, yet still a successful one. Weasley smiled a wobbly smile at his partner and sighed:

"I'm sorry Malfoy, but I think it's better you stay here." 

Draco looked helplessly at Blaise and Pansy for support, but they wore similar expressions to Weasley. They _agreed_ with him. 

"Weasley has a point, Draco. While statistically our chances are lower the less of us go, they're also higher since we can all stay collected. And you, well, despite how you act most of the time, you're a very emotional sop." Pansy pointed out, though her face was contorted with pity and sympathy.

"I.." He started, but he'd already lost the damn battle. A stone lodged itself in his stomach. _"Fine._ But you _better_ bring him back to me alive." He shook his head and turned away, letting his threat hang in the air.

~

As Harry was doubled over, hands on his knees, catching his breath, something on the ground caught his eye. Something etched into the rocky terrain. He knelt down to observe it closer.

It looked like a sort of rune.

Squinting at it and tracing the etchings with his finger, Harry tried to recall the few lessons of Ancient Runes he'd taken at Hogwarts and then again at the Auror Academy. 

"Power.." Harry murmured, recognizing the swoop of the rune's design. 

What the hell was a random rune doing carved into a mountain? Were there more around? Was there possibly someone else living up here who could help him? He looked around closer, heart swelling with hope, and, indeed found more. 

They were etched in a circle. Harry stepped into the middle of the circle to be able to read them all:

"Power, mystery, strength, misfortune, ma--"

"Stop!" A feminine voice cut him off from reading the last rune. Harry jumped and spun around, only to find a living breathing witch barreling towards him. 

He held his hands up placatingly, unsure what else to do. He had no idea there were other people on this mountain.

"Are you foolish? Don't you know what you would have done?" She hissed when she came closer, glaring at Harry even though she was a foot shorter than him. She had brown hair tied up in a bun and a cloak around her shoulders.

"I..uh, no? I wasn't going to do anything?" Harry furrowed his brows.

"Don't you know _anything_ about runes? Reading them aloud activates them." She shook her head at him. "You'd have summoned a Dementor, you idiot." 

Harry was suddenly very glad she stopped him in time.

"Why the hell would you set up runes that summon bloody Dementors?" He thought to ask after the initial shock worn off.

"It was a mistake. I wasn't _trying_ to summon one." The witch muttered crossly, pulling her cloak tighter around herself. 

"What _were_ you trying to do then?" Harry wondered aloud.

Her face contorted into something angry for a moment, before it flattened out. Her eyes lingered on Harry's injuries and she seemed much more willing to talk than earlier:

"It was..It was supposed to be a healing runescape, yes, that." 

"Wait really?" Harry perked up at that. If she was telling the truth, which Harry believed she was, since she'd stopped him from summoning a bloody monster when she didn't really have to, he could take care of the gashes and cuts and freshen up a bit.

"Yes, yes, but sadly I didn't get one rune right so now it does the complete opposite and summons a Dementor." She shrugged, looking put out for a moment, before humming under her breath and turning away. "Well, it's been lovely but I'm sure we both have better things to do so--"

"Wait." Harry stopped her. "I can read runes, maybe I can help you correct it?" He tentatively offered. It was the one thing his teachers always insisted upon, learning to read runes correctly at the very least.

She spun around with the brightest smile on her face:

"Oh would you? In return you can get those nasty wounds all healed up. Deal?" She outstretched her hand and Harry took a deep breath and nodded, gripped her hand and shook it.

Things seemed to be looking up.

~

"Malfoy stop staring at the bloody field. Harry won't materialize out of thin air if you wish it hard enough." Granger chided and shut the window Draco was perched at, glaring at the bloody mountain and field, in his face.

They went back to the inn after Pansy, Weasley and Blaise left, and have been there for a long, silent awkward 15 minutes. 

"Shut up Granger." He muttered acridly, partly because she had a valid point that he had no reply to, but mostly because his nerves were frayed and he did not need her reminding him of it.

"Yes, yes, how _very_ intimidating." She rolled her eyes and lay back on the bed, twirling her wand between her fingers. "Look, we all love Harry just as much as you do, stop being dramatic. You aren't improving the mood." 

Draco sighed and gave it up. There was nothing he could really say. Up until that afternoon he hadn't even known other people had picked up on his feelings.

"How in the bloody hell does everyone know anyways?" He asked just for something to say that had nothing to do with the current problem.

Granger turned on her side to stare at him and grinned:

"Ron figured it out first and pointed it out to the rest of us."

 _"Weasley_ was the first to--Now that is just plain _insulting."_ Draco shook his head at himself. Weasley figured it out! _Weasley!_

"Yeah I know, he's usually very oblivious to such matters." She bit her lip for a moment, smile widening and continued:

"He barged into my office one morning yelling about some important news he had to tell me at _once._ I figured someone got injured or something of the sort, so imagine my surprise when he starts sputtering on how _'Malfoy has the hots for Harry'_ and _'Malfoy wants Harry.'"_

Draco scowled and rolled his eyes, but he felt a flush creeping down his neck.

"I didn't believe him at all, because really, it's _you_ and _Harry._ He just told me to watch you the next time I get the chance. So I did. And I, too, like Ron, noticed some very interesting things."

"Oh do spare me." Draco pleaded with a grimace, but Granger shook her head with a wolfish grin on her pretty face.

"Of course I won't." She shifted on the bed again. "Asides from staring at him like he was a piece of meat and you were a starving man on an hourly basis, which you've been doing even back in school really, I found the notes quite adorable."

Draco's eyes flashed, and he sat up:

"The not-- _What notes?"_

Granger laughed loud and free:

"You know, the little hearts and initials. You forgot to Vanish them from an injury scan report sent to Mungo's. Aren't you lucky I received it and not someone else?" 

"Right now, no." Draco deadpanned, cheeks blazing. So he was a little infatuated, no big deal.

"Admittedly a bit more disturbing were the blatant displays of jealousy." She conceded. "You know you really didn't have to hex Justin with Screaming Scrotumpox."

Draco gave up on retaining any dignity in this conversation and gave in with a wicked grin:

"Of course I didn't. I wanted to."

"Well, alright, to be fair to you, Justin was being just a _tad_ aggressive." 

Draco snorted and shook his head, his hair falling over his eyes:

"That's an understatement Granger. He climbed into Potter's lap and dry humped him."

"As if you wouldn't do the same." She cocked a brow with a self satisfied smirk on her face.

Draco sighed and bit the inside of his cheek. 

"I shouldn't of asked anything." He chastised himself. 

Granger snorted gracelessly and lazily twirled her wand to cast a lightshow above her head:

"Harry wouldn't object, just so you know."

Draco almost choked on his tongue. 

"Wh- _What?"_

She shrugged with an easy smile on her face.

~

"What's your name?" Harry asked as he followed the witch to a Disillusioned cave entrance.

"Agatha." She answered simply and bustled in, leaving Harry to trail after her.

He entered a quaint cave decorated with various magical herbs and objects he knew neither name nor purpose of. There were a few rune books scattered about.

He was just a _tad_ bit concerned over all of this, since there were no official records of a woman living up in the mountain, or performing rune magic up there. Then again, they had no time to speak to the locals before running out to arrest Stonewill, so they couldn't have known about Agatha.

He just hoped for the best, since he needed all the help he could get. Besides, Draco was a true worrywart and Harry didn't want to come down all bloody and bruised, it'd give the blonde prick a heart attack.

"Right. Here's the runes I used." Agatha snapped him out of his thoughts and shoved a book into his hands.

Harry opened it.

~

"Parkinson, we've been going in circles for the past two hours!" Ron groaned, glaring daggers through Parkinson's head.

She flipped him the two fingered salute over her shoulder:

"Yes, you dimwit, because I can't catch a trace of Potter's magic. The snip I got earlier is gone by now, the wind and weather dispersed it. He either hasn't cast any magic or is unable to, both of which are highly likely depending upon just how high he's ended up." 

Her voice was shrill and impatient as she continued to cast tracking spell after spell with no success.

Ron growled under his breath and sighed, gripping his wand tighter. He gave Malfoy shit, but he was just as devastated. It was a mountain, apparently a mountain teeming with dark magic _and_ Graphorns, and Harry was wandless and possibly injured. Helpless. Who knew what state they'd find him in, if at all..

No.

He wouldn't let himself lose hope. If the roles were reversed Harry would have gone above and beyond to find him, and Ron wasn't about to give up on his brother.

~

Harry helped Agatha correct the runes, she'd drawn a couple wrong, and she etched them into the floor of her cave with a gleam in her eyes Harry found slightly manic. The book was very vague on what the runescape would be used for, so Harry had to trust Agatha knew what she was doing. When she was done she practically shoved him into the circle and urged him to read the runes aloud, while she bustled and clinked around with something at the far corner of the cave.

Harry stared down at the symbols around him and took a deep breath. Nothing ventured, nothing gained right?

Well.

He started to read them out as they circled around him: 

"Power, mystery, strength, magic, force and harvest."

When he read the final one, the symbols began to glow and pulsate. Light rose from them, growing up to the ceiling until it formed a sort of cage around Harry.

"Err...Agatha? Is this _supposed_ to happen?" He yelled to her, because he wasn't so sure that _healing_ runes were meant to _cage_ you.

She spun around to face him with three large vials in her hands and a wretched grin on her face:

"Oh yes, dear Harry, this is _exactly_ what is supposed to happen."

A cold pit flipped Harry's stomach as she ground he stood on began to heat up. He could feel it through his boots, his feet and up the rest of him, the temperature within the cage rising around him. It grew hotter and hotter until Harry started to sweat and breathe heavier, his head starting to buzz from the oppressive heat. It felt as if it was pushing into his skin, burning him and his throat and tongue had gone so dry he couldn't mutter a word asides heaving rasps.

Agatha was looking on from outside completely unperturbed as he essentially cooked alive in there, and she idly twirled the vials between her fingers:

"Dark magic is so _beautiful_ , Harry, so _alluring_. Shame my village couldn't see that. They tossed me out to the mountain, didn't want me around the _children."_

She slowly walked a circle around the cage as she spoke, watching the progression within the runescape with lazy disinterest.

"Had to learn to survive up here. The Graphorns and various other crap, I'm sure you've seen yourself. Wind and weather really fucks with conducted magic too, wands are practically useless."

A sudden cold sweep knocked Harry down to his knees with a wheezed gasp as the shock of frigid air biting his lungs after the burning heat sent a splay of pain through his chest and body. He felt dizzy too, still unable to speak, the air too cold to allow it. The ground he fell to glassed out, cool as ice beneath his touch and he felt his nose begin to run with what he could only assume was blood.

"Since conductive magic via a wand doesn't work, I had to turn to _runes_ , a more raw form of magic. But they only go so far whilst being far too bloody complicated, and my magic weakened and withered."

Harry could barely hear her as the chatter of his own teeth filled his ears and he struggled to breathe. He felt his nose running, and his eyes burned too, but it was odd, because he wasn't crying. Or at least it didn't _feel_ like he was crying, but something was spilling from his eyes nonetheless.

"And so I resorted to constructing a magic depleting and harvesting runescape, to catch any and all magic reserves out of the area that I could, to replenish myself. Lucky for me, Harry Potter, whom turned out to be the greatest fool of all, walked right in where I needed him. Your magic is powerful, it will do _wonders_ for my complexion."

She rounded back to the front and knelt down in front of the light cage Harry was trapped within and carefully reached a hand through the bars, to grip his hair and tug it backwards, jerking his head so he had to meet her eyes. Harry couldn't speak or move, but a burning anger and fear groused through his eyes, and he was sure she could see it. But Agatha only smiled wolfishly and let go of his hair to grip his chin and yank him forwards until he came crashing into the bars, one of his shoulders popping from the impact.

Agatha picked up a vial and pressed it beneath his nose, collecting what Harry had now realized was his _magic_ into it. When it was full, she carefully capped it and pressed her other vial to his cheek, to gather the magic sliding down them too. She repeated this, summoning more and more vials, until he felt his nose and eyes had stopped leaking. He felt lethargic and drained, felt as if he'd bled dry. He'd slumped against the cage, and Agatha's grip on his chin was the only thing keeping him up. Once she tossed him away, he just crumpled to a curled up heap on the floor.

Through half lidded eyes he could barely register the bars shimmer and drop back into the earth they rose from, the rune symbols growing cold and null, much like he was starting to feel.

~

Harry only vaguely felt two arms gripping his sweater and dragging him along the earth. He felt each bump as he let himself be limply dragged by like a ragdoll. He couldn't summon a morsel of strength to resist. 

Suddenly they came to a stop and Harry felt a foot pressing into his ribs. 

"Thanks Harry. You were mighty useful." Agatha chuckled and shoved him away with her foot.

Harry started rolling and tumbling downwards limply, only faint bursts of light flittering through his slit eyelids.

He must have hit his head on something along the way, because he blacked out at one point.

~

Ron's head snapped around as he heard rustling and thumping tumbling closer and closer to the three of them, who'd just only begun to climb higher into the mountain. 

Blaise and Parkinson heard it too and the three of them had their wands drawn, pointed in the direction of the noise.

As it came closer and closer, Blaise was the first one to recognize the heap rolling towards them:

"Oh my _God_ it's him! That's _Potter!"_ He yelled, a tremble in his voice.

As the body came to a stop at their feet, Ron and Parkinson realized it too.

Dear God it was Harry!

He was battered and bruised and cut and limp and looked pale and ghastly, and Ron swallowed a wave of tears and quickly dropped to his knees next to his mate and shakily pressing the tip of his wand to Harry's neck, a faint thumping reverberating through the length of his wand and up into his hand letting him know, with great icy relief, that Harry was _alive_.

"He's alive." He murmured outloud to his companions, looking up at their wide eyed faces.

~

A loud of commotion and slamming noises from somewhere within the inn stirred both Draco and Granger up from their light dozes. 

In the space of a blink, Weasley, Blaise and Pansy were bursting through the room door, levitating someone between the three of them.

When Draco looked closer, he realized it was Potter.

It was Potter!

His joy was shortlived as his eyes took note of the state Potter was in. 

He looked _dead._

"You found him!" Granger hissed, snapping Draco out of crumbling into a monumental panic at the thought of Potter being dead.

"He's alive, but barely so. Something is horribly wrong with his magic, I couldn't even draw enough of an output to trace his signature." Pansy rambled, voice strained.

Granger didn't waste a moment, shutters coming down over the overwhelming emotion in her eyes:

"All of you _out. Now!"_ She ordered, voice leaving no room for argument. "I need space and quiet to work." Granger reaffirmed and slammed and locked the door as they all shuffled out of the room.

~

Weasley, Blaise and Pansy were sat by the door, leaning back on the wall while Draco paced the little hallway in front of it.

The innkeeper had come up multiple times enraged and demanding to know what kind of imbroglio they were running in his inn, but the four of them told him to _'piss off'_ in no uncertain terms.

None of them really spoke, caught up in their own storming thoughts. Draco felt as if the world had been pulled out from underneath him when he saw Potter. All of sorts of dark thoughts spun through his head aimed at Stonewill. He was carted off back to the Ministry via a direct contact Floo the commanding officer of law enforcement of the village had built in his office. Every conceivable curse and hex known to the wizarding kind seemed too kind a punishment. His stomach was coiled in tight knots while they waited for news, tension rising in his head with every passing minute. Granger was an excellent Healer, if there was anyone that could heal whatever injuries Potter had sustained, it would be her. 

But Pansy had said there was something horribly wrong with his magic.

And thus the cycle of going rampant with worry continued. 

"Malfoy you'll tear all your hair out if you keep it up." Weasley's voice snapped him out of his reverie. He stared blankly at him for a second before he realized he'd been messing up his hair without ever noticing he'd been doing.

He dropped his hand and sighed. Potter reminded him of that too. His heart clenched in his chest and he gave up pacing, opting to slide down and sit down next to the red headed git.

Not long after, the door opened and the four of them were springing to their feet immediately, but Granger only called Pansy in, her face ashen and hair pulled back. Pansy went, and the door clicked shut again, leaving them with even more troubling thoughts and questions.

~

It was another excruciating, unbearable fucking hour later that Granger and Pansy allowed them into the room.

Draco was in there before he could remember even standing.

His breath caught when he saw Potter, sitting up in bed with a serene, if a bit tired, smile on his face. His shoulder and right arm were bandaged as well as his head, but he still managed to look beautiful. 

He's here. And alive.

Oh God he's _alive._

"Hey Draco." Potter softly whispers, smile widening. 

And Draco couldn't. He really couldn't. He flew to Harry, wrapping him up in a tight hug. Harry only gasped in mute surprise, before wrapping both his arms around Draco, holding him close. Draco's heart was thudding so fast and hard he feared it would crack his ribs but there was nothing to be done for the relief and joy that coursed through him.

"Hey, hey, I can feel your heart pounding." Potter murmured into his neck and Draco laughed breathlessly before he pulled back, staring at Potter's smiling face with an equally as wide a grin on his own.

"You're alive Harry." He says, for the first time using Potter's given name, the word gliding off his tongue as natural as anything. "You're _alive."_

Harry... _Harry...God_ , Draco loved him so _much..._

Harry laughed quietly and slid his palms up Draco's back:

"Of course I am. Can't let you have all the fun, can I?"

Draco smiles wider, tension easing from his body. It's only a few quiet seconds later that he realizes there are other people in the room and he flushes. He clears his throat and steps off the bed, not lifting his eyes to take notice of Granger and Pansy's equally swooning smiles or Weasley and Blaise's smug, approving smirks.

~

The amount of magic harvested from Harry was so severe he had to spend a few weeks in home recovery, strictly forbidden from exerting too much magic while his body replenished the deficit. 

It would have been horribly boring and dull, had Draco not spent every single day with Harry. He'd taken some vacation time to come over and stay the day at Harry's and Harry had never loved him more, though he found himself thinking that often.

Right now, they were at Harry's flat sipping tea, and Harry had made up his mind. He'd ask Draco out, everything else be _damned._

He nearly died from some insane hermit draining his magic, and he couldn't afford to waste his opportunities any longer. His lucky streak won't last him forever.

A lump congealed in his throat when he thought about uttering the words outloud, anxiety twisting his stomach, but there was a deeper devotion driving him onwards.

"Draco." He started, speaking as evenly as his voice allowed him.

Draco put his cup down and turned his attention to Harry with a hum.

"Remember when I told you I wanted to chat up a boy from Wiltshire?" Harry forced himself to look straight into Draco's eyes, even though his stomach was flipping itself inside out.

"..Yea?" A shadow flittered across Draco's features for the barest of moments before they flattened out.

"Tell me then, which do you prefer, bold and blase or subtle and shy?" Harry managed a smile at the taken aback expression on Draco's face.

"I--I--What?" Draco muttered, gaping.

"How do you prefer to be chatted up." Harry repeated, cheeks flushing.

"Me?" The blonde pointed a finger to himself and Harry laughed:

"See anyone else in here?" 

"You want to chat _me_ up?" Draco croaked again, eyes flaring as if desperate for confirmation.

For the love of-- _Alright,_ well, if Draco wasn't calling the shot, Harry would have to do it for him. Seeing as he felt the need to incessantly babble, bold and blase it was.

Harry pushed himself forwards over the desk and reached out to fist a hand in Draco's shirt, yanking him forwards, shutting up Draco fairly efficiently by kissing him unyieldingly.

It had taken a moment for Draco to collect himself enough to respond, but when he did, his lips moved ferociously against Harry's, as if he'd been waiting for _years_ to get a kiss and had gone mad with wanting.

When they pulled Harry traced a nip on his lip where a bead of blood was bubbling up with his tongue, chuckling throatily at the faint sting.

"Yes, Draco, _you."_ Harry rolled his eyes fondly, a wide grin taking over his features nevertheless.

Draco's responding smile rivaled the sun.

~

_Fin._

**-BONUS SCENE-**

Agatha trudged back to her cave, she could practically taste that old spark of magic flowing through her veins. Potter's magic should be plenty to restore her loss.

She entered her 'home' and settled on the closest cushion to her. When she regained her magical prowess, she'd be able to break those wards that were erected to ban her entrance to her village, her supposed home.

Heh, some _home_ it was.

Casting her thoughts back to the task at hand, Agatha grabbed a silver dagger and collected the vials of magic. It turned out so lucky for her that Potter turned out to be so naive. It would have taken her _months_ to collect even half of what she harvested from Potter drawing and depleting the magic from the area around her and nature itself. 

She took a deep breath to center herself and raised the dagger to pierce a point in the crook of her elbow. Agatha flicked the dagger downwards, hissing in pain as she made an incision. As the wound began to weep blood, she picked and uncorked one vial, pressed the mouth of it to the cut and tipped Potter's magic directly into her bloodstream. She repeated this until all the vials were emptied, then healed the cut.

An electric feeling buzzed through her, jolting her senses, making her feel more alive than she'd ever felt before. It was nearly orgasmic as a newfound rush of magic and power rushed through her veins. 

But then.

Then something went horribly _wrong_ as her stomach lurched and her tongue flopped out of her mouth. A horrible twisting itch started in her very bones and she felt herself bloating. It wasn't painful, but she was terrified. What the hell was happening? Whatever it was, it wasn't supposed to be. She'd done her research, magic shouldn't care whose blood it flows through. 

Her legs jerked in an unnatural twitch, bending backwards at the knee, and then some. Cold terror gripping her, Agatha frantically tried to figure out _why_ this was happening, and it was only when her tongue began to stretch and lengthen and her back to bow inwards, did she realize the magnitude of her grave mistake.

She read about _location magic,_ not _human magic._

How could she have been so _foolish_ to assume the two would behave the same? 

Potter's magic seemingly remembered, and it punished.

It was the last thought Agatha ever thought, before a crack and a whirlwind rose up through the cave, rattling everything from where it resided.

When all the dust settled, in the place where Agatha once sat, now sat a bright blue _toad._

**_\---_ **

**Author's Note:**

> so are you guys digging this -bonus scene- thing going on here?  
> i certainly am, if for no other reason then to get a bit of petty revenge and vindictive pleasure out of other's suffering :3  
> Evie~
> 
> Find more on my [Tumblr](https://missdrarrydawn.tumblr.com/)


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